While Ãcariya Mun lived in Chiang Dao Cave, numerous
nimittas appeared in his meditation, some of them
quite extraordinary. Here I shall mention only a
few. In the late hours of almost every night he
received a wide range of deva visitors from the
upper and lower celestial realms who arrived in
groups of varying sizes at appointed times. Arahants
also came regularly to hold inspirational
conversations on Dhamma with Ãcariya Mun. Each
Arahant showed him the manner in which his passing
away into total Nibbãna had occurred. Some were
Arahants who had passed away in the Chiang Dao Cave,
while others had attained total Nibbãna elsewhere.
Such demonstrations were accompanied by an inspiring
explanation of the sequence of events that had taken
place.

Hearing Ãcariya Mun talk about those Arahants, I
felt dismayed and somewhat discouraged by my own
unfortunate circumstances. There I was a human being
with eyes, ears, and mental faculties just like
Ãcariya Mun; yet, I couldn’t accomplish the things
that he did. On the one hand, I was elated to hear
his stories; on the other, I felt disheartened. I
found myself laughing and crying at the same time,
but I kept my tears to myself for fear that my
fellow monks would think I was mad. In fact, at that
time, deep inside, I really was a bit mad.

The inspirational conversations that Ãcariya Mun had
with the Arahants were so captivating that it’s hard
to find anything else in the world that compares
with them. I shall try to faithfully recreate the
essence of those conversations here, though I fear I
may not do them proper justice. Here is the gist of
what the Arahants said to Ãcariya Mun.

“All Arahants possess superb qualities within their
hearts that are most amazing – intrinsic virtues
unsurpassed in the human and deva worlds. Each
Arahant who appears in the world following the Lord
Buddha does so only with the greatest of difﬁculty.
Each is like a gold mine cropping up spontaneously
in the middle of an emperor’s imperial city – a very
rare occurrence indeed. An Arahant’s lifestyle
contrasts sharply with worldly lifestyles because an
Arahant’s life is invigorated by Dhamma. Although
his body is composed of the same physical elements
as those of everyone else, the heart maintaining
that body is pure, and such purity of heart
invigorates every aspect of the physical element.

“You yourself have now completed the task of ﬁltering
from your heart all possible causes of existence,
thus becoming one of the Arahants. Being one whose
heart will never again give rise to birth and
existence, you have become another incomparable
source of merit for the world to venerate. So we’ve
come to visit you now to show our appreciation for
your achievement, which because of its enormous
difficulty, is seldom accomplished. Although many
people desire to attain what you have, very few
succeed when they are faced with the difficulties.
People born into this world instinctively cling to
their parents and relatives for support. Hardly any
of them realize the importance of relying on their
own hearts as their mainstay. The vast majority of
people just drift aimlessly, accomplishing nothing
of real value – their numbers are beyond reckoning.
So the appearance in the world of a
fully-enlightened Arahant is a remarkable event that
benefits living beings throughout all the world
systems. Your attainment of purity has made you an
enormous boon for humans, devas, and brahmas alike.
You are also well-versed in the universal language
of the heart, which is far more important than any
other form of communication. All the Buddhas, and
certain categories of Arahants, use the language of
the heart when giving assistance to living beings,
for it is the universal language of sentient beings
throughout the universe. Contacting and teaching
nonphysical beings is achieved exclusively by means
of this universal form of communication. Those
communicating in the language of the heart can
understand each other much more quickly and easily
than would normally be the case.”

After concluding his inspirational conversation with
Ãcariya Mun, each Arahant would then demonstrate the
manner in which he had passed away into total
Nibbãna. Nearly every Arahant who came allowed him
to observe the posture in which this was achieved.
Some Arahants demonstrated how they had died and
passed into total Nibbãna while sitting cross-legged
in samãdhi. Some demonstrated how they were
reclining on their right side in the ‘lion’s posture
at that time. Others showed him how they were
standing still in the middle of the meditation path;
still others revealed how they were pacing back and
forth in meditation at the time of their total
Nibbãna. The sitting and reclining postures were the
most common – relatively few Arahants passed into
Nibbãna while walking or standing.

Their deaths were demonstrated in a precise manner,
showing every detail right up to the final moment.
As a seated Arahant passed away, he slumped over
gently like soft cotton, while his body ceased to
function and became perfectly still. It was more
difficult to discern the exact moment when an
Arahant reclining in the ‘lion’s posture’ passed
away. His breathing was the only visible sign of
life and that became ever more refined as he lay
quietly, as if asleep, without the slightest
movement in any part of his body, until his
breathing gradually ceased altogether. Those
Arahants who demonstrated death in a standing
posture stood erect, assuming a reflective pose with
the right hand placed on the left hand, head
slightly bowed and eyes firmly closed. They appeared
to reflect momentarily before slowly slumping into a
heap on the ground – first in a sitting position,
then slumping gradually further, until, softly, like
cotton wool, they lay on the ground. Arahants, who
died while walking in meditation, paced back and
forth about six or seven times before gently
slumping to the ground where they lay perfectly
still.

When giving these demonstrations, the Arahants came
to within six feet of Ãcariya Mun so he could
clearly view every aspect of their passing away,
which created a lasting impression in his heart.
Listening to him recount those episodes, I felt the
urge to shed tears. I had to turn my face to the
wall as this strange feeling overcame me. Otherwise,
I might have created a stir, which could have become
an embarrassing epilogue to this story. The total
Nibbãna of those Arahants was accomplished with a
serene gracefulness that stands in marked contrast
to the distress typically suffered by most people at
the time of death. I was so moved by hearing how
each Arahant passed away that I simply couldn’t hold
back my tears. Those amazing individuals were taking
final leave of the world of conventional reality
with all its chaos and confusion – which is an
amazing thing to contemplate. I am sure that anyone
else who listened would have been deeply affected in
the same way.

Three Arahants attained total Nibbãna at the cave in
Chiang Dao – two while reclining in the ‘lion’s
posture’ and one while walking meditation. Prior to
giving Ãcariya Mun a visual demonstration of how his
death had occurred, each Arahant gave him a detailed
explanation of why he had chosen to pass away in
that posture. Very few died while standing or
walking. Many more did so while sitting, but the
majority passed away while reclining. On the basis
of what he had seen, Ãcariya Mun came to the
conclusion that over the centuries many Arahants had
passed away in Thailand. As far as I can remember,
they included the three Arahants at the cave in
Chiang Dao, one in the Wong Phra Chan mountains, one
at Tago Cave in Lopburi province, one at Khow Yai in
Nakhon Nayok province, and one at Wat Dhatuluang
monastery of Ko Kha district in Lampang province.
There were others as well, but unfortunately I can
no longer recall them.

“Nibbãna” is a term used exclusively with reference
to Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and Arahants, all of
whom have expunged from their hearts every trace of
the kilesas leading to future birth. It is not a
term associated with living beings who still have
kilesas, for those beings continue to accumulate the
seeds of future births in their hearts constantly,
thus making the designation “Nibbãna” entirely
inappropriate for them. Having died here, they are
reborn there; dying there, they’re reborn somewhere
else. Negligent human beings who’ve made no effort
to develop virtuous qualities in this life so as to
enhance their future lives, may well be reborn as
animals after they die. The opportunities for birth
as an animal are more numerous than those for birth
in the much higher human, deva, and brahma realms.
So those who prefer making bad kamma may be on one
of the many paths to rebirth in the animal kingdom,
which is far more diverse and extensive than the
higher realms. But animals, humans, and devas all
have one thing in common: the burden of emotional
attachments that cause them to be reborn over and
over again – indefinitely. Consequently, the term
Nibbãna does not apply to them.

The only ones who deserve the designation “Nibbãna”
are those individuals who have completely eradicated
the kilesas from their hearts – extinguishing them
forever, even while they are physically alive. At
the moment of passing away, they have no lingering
attachments that could bind them to the round of
saÿsãra – not even to the body that’s starting to
decompose. Absolutely no attachment or concern for
anything anywhere exist in their hearts. Thus they
bid final farewell to the world with no trepidation,
having no expectations of experiencing karmic
consequences in another realm of existence – a
source of endless frustration. The heart that has
attained absolute freedom is constant, unchanging,
and wholly contented. It harbors no expectations at
all concerning conventional realities such as the
body. Therefore, not even an atom of the
conventional world could enter and affect the
heart’s state of total purity. The word “Nibbãna”
refers to the total purity of one who is never
agitated or melancholy – neither

sorrowful in life nor regretful at death – but
always imperturbably unchanging throughout.

Nibbãna is a special term used with reference to a
special type of individual. No one who has yet to
purify his heart would dare assume this title.
Nibbãna is not a kind of personal property, like an
orchard or a farm, which can be taken over by
powerful interests even without the owner’s consent.
Whoever wants to take possession of Nibbãna must
make the effort to develop it within the heart –
there is no hope for those who merely lie around
waiting for it to appear.

Ãcariya Mun, the subject of this biography, received
inspirational Dhamma from many Arahants. He has
received national acclaim and respect from faithful
Buddhists everywhere. He achieved this renown by
faithfully practicing the Dhamma until he realized
the Truth in his own heart, where nothing false
existed. He was able to see those things that are
inherently false, like organic life; and as such,
let go of them so they no longer burdened his heart.
The true Ãcariya Mun, no longer subject to change,
was the Truth of the Dhamma he realized. That Dhamma
remains true – forever. Unlike all other things
which are inherently unstable and so of limited
duration, the passage of time has no effect
whatsoever on it.